We will not neglect our State – owned Universities, says Akeredolu

Ondo State governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has said he will never play politics with the issue of University of Medical Science, Ondo, because of its peculiarity.

Akeredolu also reiterated his administration’s commitment to supporting the three Universities in the state.

Governor Akeredolu made this known in Ondo city during the third Founder’s Day Lecture of the University of Medical Sciences, (UNIMED), Ondo in Ondo State.

Ondo State currently maintains three universities namely UNIMED; Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa (OSUSTECH); and Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko with a Polytechnic in Owo.

The Governor who said it is not an easy task to keep all the University, noted that it was not possible to abandon a special university like UNIMED.

“I am not playing politics. It is the first University of Medical Sciences in Nigeria. A University that deals in specialized areas, can we afford to say we are not supporting it?.

“There have been arguments to merge all three universities, but we will continue to try to retain all three. That is my resolve as a governor.

“OSUSTECH was abandoned for sometime. But we will get it up. It is also a good university for what it was established for because science and technology must be the goal too, so we cannot afford to also cancel it.

“AAUA is also on a good footing, we just need to continue to support them,” he said.

The governor also expressed continued support for all educational institutions, even from the primary schools.

According to Akeredolu, we are concerned about building our education from that level, our own idea is to improve on the schools we have.

“Better classrooms for our students so that people will go to school, and we make sure it is secured. That is why we have started fencing all our primary schools because of the spate of insecurity that we face.

“In most of our primary schools, we have modern toilets, water, and we teach sanitation and hygiene. We also have solar to provide lights for the classrooms, these are the things we try to do to improve education in this state,” he said.